News

Revealed: Apple takes bigger bite out of tax bill

In Britain, Apple is estimated to have avoided £550m in tax on a £6.7bn turnover last year (Oli Scarff)

APPLE is paying less than 2% tax on its overseas profits, with new documents
revealing that the world’s biggest company has again slashed the amount
foreign taxmen receive.

It paid $713m (£445m) corporation tax abroad in the year to the end of
September, even as profits surged to a mammoth $36.8bn outside America,
according to regulatory filings lodged last week.

The technology giant’s overseas tax rate tumbled to 1.9% from 2.5% the year
before, as it shifted money through offshoots in low-tax countries and
secretive tax havens, such as the British Virgin Islands.

This compares with a headline corporation tax rate of 35% in America and 24%
in Britain.

The meagre payouts to exchequers in Britain and across Europe are likely to
inflame public anger over the aggressive tax avoidance tactics used by
American tech firms. An investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed that
America’s top five technology companies,